Hitachino Nest DaiDai is a very unique brew, “Kiuchi/Hitachino” philosophy with highly focused notes of orange/mandarin, quite dry in the finish. Kiuchi Brewery uses a special, very rare type of orange called “Fukure Mikan”

Reviews by Richardbeerlover:

Pours a nice 3/4 inch head with a clean light orange amber color. Notice lots if sediment and white particles which is very cool. Smells clean and fresh with just a hint of orange peel. Tastes very clean and fresh and goes down smoothly. Overall a nice beer that's perfect for spring and summer. (295 characters)

More User Reviews:

Poured a nice, rich amber/orange with a finger and a half off-white head that receded to a nice ring that left slight lacing down the glass. Very nice looking, the most classic IPA aspect of the beer. Scents of sweet malt, strong aromas of orange, honey and sweet orange blossom, faint floral and grassy hops in the background. It's a very sweet aroma, not at all hop forward like an American IPA, but nice in it's own way. Taste is very unique. Begins with sweet orange, bitter orange peel which stay present throughout the sip, a nice bit of floral hops balancing the sweetness, almost some herbal tea like character to the hops as well as some earthy, musty hop flavors, emerging in the middle of the sip and growing on the finish and aftertaste, which is dry as a result. It's a very unique combination of orange flavors and floral and musty herbal hops. The bitterness is moderate, English IPA level, but enough to balance the malt and orange sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium-light bodied with a moderate carbonation level, it has a pleasant feel in the mouth and is quite easy to drink as a result. Overall this is an excellent, highly unique beer. The IPA character is there, but in a subdued fashion, balancing a unique set of orange flavors. It is quite balanced and well crafted in taste and mouthfeel, with a well crafted, yet unbalanced towards the sweet side aroma. But it is very good and well worth trying. (1,419 characters)

This beer appears a clear, glassy medium golden amber hue, with one skinny finger of lightly foamy, and mostly wispy off-white head, which leaves a few streaks of volcanic island lace around the glass as things duly progress.

It smells of faint, indistinct citrus flesh, soft caramel-tinted pale malt, and spicy leafy, earthy hops. The taste is sugary, kind of creamy citrus - orange and tangerine, I gather, but it's probably more of an obscure (to we westerners, anyways) tangelo-type thing. But I digress, as there is indeed more - more musty, weedy hops, a somewhat rejuvenated caramel maltiness (but not overly so), and a rather obfuscated earthy yeast character.

The carbonation is supportive enough without any notable side effects (me likey!), the body a solid medium weight, but with a subtle attendant clamminess. It finishes off-dry, the mirror-world citrusy hops weaseling their way into the bready malt after party.

Another 'American' style IPA from the land of the rising sun, where they use just too many different homegrown ingredients (all good, otherwise) to produce anything all that reminiscent of the contiguous 48 and their prodigious IPAs. So, while acceptable in its own right, don't go in with too many preconceptions for this particular offering. (1,330 characters)

Pours into a fluted tulip glass with little fanfare, less than a finger of foam. Delicate lacing and surface skim that breaks after the first few sips.

Aroma is mostly bready caramel malt. Wishing for more of this rare orange mentioned, but alas.

Taste is similar, mainly malty with a faded citrus peel, and a firm hop bitterness that lingers into the aftertaste. Medium bodied and malty with a light sweetness up front that rapidly segues into a lasting bitterness. Overall I might try this in tap but will probably avoid bottles in the future unless it's very fresh. (594 characters)